The 1964 Georgia-Florida game, quite a story

One Old Dawg has been pigging out on barbeque ribs and pulled pork since the Arkansas game, but says he’s getting tired of it. He’s decided some fried gator tail would be real tasty.

In 1964, Georgia went to Jacksonville for the Georgia-Florida game having only won two of the last ten games there. What would happen that day still stands as one of the most amazing victories Georgia has ever enjoyed. Georgia beat ninth ranked Florida and rose to second in the SEC behind Alabama. It’s quite a story.

One Old Dawg says this, “The days before the ’64 Florida game were just electric in Athens. We’d had a couple of strong victories over Kentucky and North Carolina, and had only lost by a few points against Florida State, which was a powerhouse. Florida was 4-1 in the SEC and had lost to Alabama by only 3 points. Alabama, of course had beat us 31-3. It was by far our biggest challenge in conference play. We had nothing to lose when we played our first game of the season with Alabama—but now our stock had come up a little bit with our impressive early season. It was a big game, not to mention Florida had an up and coming star in their quarterback, Steve Spurrier. This was for many of us, our first trip to play the annual Florida game, and it would be a challenge for us to turn the tide after a string of losses to Florida.”

It didn’t start well. Florida dominated the first half by being the first to score and amassing forty offensive plays to Georgia’s twelve.

One Old Dawg remembers what happened at half time. "Defensive co-ordinator, Erk Russell, pointed out the obvious to us, that Florida had kicked our rears, but we were only down seven points. He said we could turn this around. We could beat this team, that we needed to get out there, do our jobs,and cut them off. If they can’t score, they can’t win, he said. The emotional turn in the game in my opinion for the defense was at halftime when Erk in his usual fashion made it clear that we had not done our best, but we had it in us to beat these guys.”

In the second half, when Bruce Bennett (One Old Dawg’s teammate from Valdosta high) signaled for a fair catch on a punt, a Florida player hit a Bulldog without cause. Moments later, that same gator found himself the object of a fierce tackle, and he fumbled. Ray Rissmiller (All-American, Philadelphia Eagles, New Orleans Saints, Buffalo Bills) recovered. And thus began an intense second half struggle, of which Preston Ridlehuber(Atlanta Falcons, Oakland Raiders, Buffalo Bills, New York Jets) , Bob Taylor, George Patton (All SEC, All American, Atlanta Falcons),Vance Evans, Wayne Swinford, Frank Lankewicz, and Doug McFalls(All SEC, Chiago Bears)  were all key players. Ultimately, it was One Old Dawg’s roommate, Fred Barber, who carried the ball into the end zone for a touchdown. Bobby Etter(Atlanta Flacons, Memphis Southmen) kicked the extra point and tied the game with thirteen minutes and eleven seconds left in the game.

 



One Old Dawg with Fred and Julie Barber at the '64 reunion

Florida fumbled on the ensuing kickoff and the dogs drove the ball to the Gator’s five-yard line. On fourth down, Barry Wilson (All SEC, Captain of the team,  Coach at Ole Miss, Georgia Tech, Tampa Bay Bandits, Duke, Florida) held the ball for kicker Bob Etter, but the snap was low, and Wilson somehow managed to move the ball towards Etter, who recovered it and  raced into the end zone, scoring the decisive touchdown. Atlanta Journal Constitution sportswriter, Furman Bisher, wrote, “It was the first time in his whole life that he (Bob Etter) ever carried a football, except to get it pumped up.”

One Old Dawg with Bob Etter at the '64 reunion

 One Old Dawg says, “That first half, we were a bit like a deer in the headlights. There were a lot of people there and the game was loud. We were a little star struck and didn’t play as well as we were capable. Even though we got pushed around, we were able to hold them to one score and that was a good thing. Our defense was bending, but it had not broken. We had gotten some breaks and made some breaks. Erk convinced us that we could stop them. He was right.”

One Old Dawg notes "The Gators are not off to a great start this year (3-3; 2-3 SEC), but that makes them very dangerous. I was raised in South Georgia and I’ve been around gators all my life. They lie still, submerged in the water; they look like they’re dead. But they’re just waiting for something eatable and dumb to get close enough to grab.

They remind me of the wicked man David described in Psalm10:9: 'He lies in wait like a lion in cover; he lies in wait to catch the helpless; he catches the helpless and drags them off into his net.' Any Gator would love a Dawg for supper, so we’d best be smart and alert. These Gators ain’t dead yet, but I’m confident our coaches will have the Dawgs outfitted, alert and ready for swamp fighting. When it’s all over but the shouting, there will plenty of fried Gator tail for the whole Bulldawg nation."

 

And that, friends, is classic One Old Dawg. One Old Dawg won't be at the game, but he's sent his son to cheer on the Bulldogs and make sure they bring back the win.

 

Join us here, again, next week for the Kentucky game and more mostly true Bulldog lore.

 

One Old Dawg and bottling up the opponent

One Old Dawg has had a smile plastered on his face for days thanks to the Bulldogs decisive win over the Missouri Tigers last week.

Ahead, Georgia plays Arkansas on Saturday. In 1964, Georgia didn’t play Arkansas. But they did play North Carolina around this time in the season.

Finding commentary on the 1964 Georgia-North Carolina game has proved a bit of a challenge. It seems defensive coordinator, Erk Russell was one of the few who committed his thoughts to paper. In Erk, Football, Fans and Friends, he wrote, “North Carolina had one of its better teams in recent years led by Ken Willard, their All-American fullback. During our film study we saw that on Willard’s best play, a quick trap up the middle, the center always blocked back on our defensive guard so the trapping guard could pull. We told middle linebacker John Glass to see the center and when that happened, to simply step forward and tackle Willard. It worked. Willard wasn’t a factor and Glass must have made 15 individual tackles. On that day he was the All-American. We won, 24-8.”

 

One Old Dawg says this, “We were really concerned about Ken Willard and justifiably so; he was a leading rusher in the ACC and big for back in those days (6’1” 220 lbs). He was sure to get All-American honors at the end of the year. He was actually the number two pick in the NFL draft in early 1965 and had all-star career as a pro, so our concerns were not ill founded.

“But Coach Russell had convinced us we could stop anybody, particularly between the hedges, which is exactly where we had Ken Willard. All we had to do was play smart, fundamentally sound football. By fundamentally sound I mean that we would use the proper techniques in playing our position and in tackling. By smart, I mean we would study our opponents to find and exploit their weaknesses. 

 “Many of us studied game films of or opponents more than our school work. The defensive staff had us well prepared and came up with a great game plan so we were able to bottle-up Ken Willard and stymie that Carolina offense.

“We had learned the truth that fundamentals are critical to being successful which is also true in our spiritual life. Hebrews 5:12 (The Message) tells us :  “By this time you ought to be teachers yourselves, yet here I find you need someone to sit down with you and go over the basics on God again, starting from square one—baby's milk, when you should have been on solid food long ago! “ We can’t live the Christian life successfully without practicing the spiritual disciplines of prayer, worship and Bible study anymore than we can be successful at football without practicing the fundamentals of blocking, tackling and position technique.

“The Razorbacks have us in their Hog pen this Saturday and they would like to send us back to Athens with our tail tucked between our legs.

“When pigs fly!

“I saw something in the Missouri game that makes me think we will keep the Hawgs grounded, wallowing in the mud. I saw a lot of fundamentally sound football from the Dawgs; aggressive defense as it is supposed to be played, and brutal offense that demoralizes the opposition. Arkansas does have two backs that have over 500 yards rushing already this season and average more than six yards per carry. That should concern any wise student of the game, but I believe the Dawgs have a plan and will bottle them up – just as we bottled up Ken Willard in “64.

 “Woooooooooo, Pig ! Sooie!  Sic ‘em Dawgs, woof, woof, woof!!!"

 

 

Spelling and Grammar check has no suggestions for that last sentence from One Old Dawg, so we’ll just leave it as is and trust our readers get the idea.

 

The Bulldogs have a bye next week, so One Old Dawg is taking a week off, too. We’ll see you back right here at One Old Dawg in two weeks for the Florida game and mostly true Bulldog lore. Did anyone say “gator tail?”

Until then, Go Dogs!

Florida State, a turning point in 1964

Georgia plays Missouri this Saturday in what promises to be a challenging match. The 1964 team never played Missouri, but about this time in the season, they faced off against a similar opponent, Florida State.

One Old Dawg remembers, “In 1964, when we got to the Florida State game, we were 2-1-1, and it was still iffy about what kind of team we would have. We were still unproven. Florida State was going to be our biggest test since the Alabama game. They were supposed to beat us handily. Going into the game, Coach Erk Russell  repeatedly said things like, “They put their britches on the same way we do,” so we wouldn’t be intimidated by them.

“From our defensive perspective, Florida State had two outstanding players. Steve Tensi  was their quarterback, huge for a quarterback in those days, at 6’5”, and another player, Fred Biletnikoff, was an All American receiver. Both of them went on to play in the NFL. Biletnikoff would be a Superstar.

“We were playing between the hedges, and nobody knew what to expect except we were going to get whipped. But we played with them, except we couldn’t cover Biletnikoff. That’s not saying anything against our players. No one could cover Biletnikoff —in college or in the NFL. “

Erk Russell in his autobiography Erk, Football, Fans, and Friends, said, “We really didn’t have much of a chance. But we did, because our guys cared so much and wanted to win so badly. Preston Ridlehuber (Atlanta Falcons, Oakland Raiders, Buffalo Bills, New York Jets) scored on a punt return right at the end, and we would have won the game. But clipping was called and we lost, 17-14.”

Preston Ridlehuber, George Nowicki, Jerry Varnado, and Pat Hodgson at '64 reunion

One Old Dawg continues, “We fought hard and were terribly disappointed. After the game was over, you would have thought we won the game, though. The fans were ecstatic. They cheered, stayed in the stands, and then crowded around the steps when we left to go back to the locker room. We’d never experienced anything like that.

“My friend, Jimmy Denney and I later returned to our frat house arount 4:30 in the afternoon. We got out of the car and started walking up the driveway to the house, and all these guys come down, pick us up, and carry us into the house on their shoulders cheering. We said, ‘Wait guys, we lost the game.’ They didn’t seem to care.



Jimmy Denney calls out to One Old Dawg at '64 reunion

“I think, we were supposed to get stomped, and we played with them nose to nose. Everyone knew that something was happening in Athens, Georgia. Vince Dooley had affected change that was good, and Georgia was on its way to becoming a competitive football team."

One Old Dawg concludes, "Turning points are important in scripture. Luke wrote in Acts 3:19, 'Repent, then and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord . . .'

"Repentance is a turning point where we turn away from sin to God. Turning points do not happen in a vacuum but are a part of faith and human decision making. In 1980, I believed I had reached a turning point in which God had changed my life. As I continued to believe, God actually did change my life.

"In 1964, we lost to Florida State, but it was a turning point. We believed something had changed in us and the bulldog nation, and as we continued to believe we demonstrated that something had changed. Except for a November hiccup against Auburn we finished the season unbeaten and untied. I believe last Saturday may have been a turning point for the dogs. A door of opportunity has opened. In spite of our one loss we could be a part of the first national playoff; if we win out. 'Everything is possible for him who believes.' (Mark 9:23).

"I know the Midwest Tigers clawed our eyes out last year, but that was last year. They're leading the SEC East, but South Carolina is the only SEC team they've played and they lost to unranked Indiana. After that fluke loss to Carolina, the Dogs whipped Tennessee and Vanderbilt. We're on a roll and Saturday, Uga is going to get another Tiger skin rug for his doghouse to add to the one he got in the Clemson game."

A Fifty Year Celebration and lots of Old Dawgs

Three busses emblazoned with “1964 Bulldogs” stopped traffic in two counties just as these players stopped their opponents on the gridiron fifty years ago.

 

 

Ray Rissmiller and Wayne Brantley swap stories

 

Marvin Hurst in the foreground and Jerry Varnado

Police escorts with lights flashing alerted onlookers someone special was passing by, but still, some probably didn’t understand exactly how special. Maybe they were too young or didn’t have enough historical sports perspective to know the sports legends moving past them drew a line in the sand that forever changed University of Georgia Football.

The night before, several 1964 players had attended a reception at the University of Georgia Special Collections library for the exhibit opening and celebration of Coach Vince Dooley’s fiftieth anniversary.

One Old Dawg with his former roommate Fred  Barber and  his wife Julie

Later, they gathered in an emotionally charged ballroom to remember and to hug. 

Top, Larry Kohn, Above, Ron Jenkins

 

From top left clockwise, Charley Whittemore who organized the 1964 Celebration, George Patton, Bob Etter, Dr. Tommy Lawhorn, Mack Faircloth, Vance Evans

 

Coach John Donaldson and his wife --- who is the designer of the Georgia G logo.

Trainer for the 1964 team and Hall of Fame Tennis Coach, Dick Copas

Joel Darden, John Glass, George Patton, Jerry Varnado

Loran Smith, Captain Barry Wilson, and Coach Vince Dooley spoke.

Captain of the 1964 team, Barry Wilson

Coach Vince Dooley

One Old Dawg, Jerry Varnado, gave the invocation on this memorable night. Some of his colleagues who hadn’t seen him in decades expressed surprise that he had “made a preacher.”





The next day, these Old Dawgs took the same path they took before the games in ’64, arriving at Stegeman where they once dressed out, on to East Campus Drive, and then to Sanford Stadium. As fans waved and cheered at the procession, One Old Dawg said, “For a minute there, I thought I could play again.”

They arrived at The University of Georgia Football Lettermen’s Club for a pregame meal and more socializing.

Jimmy Denney calls out to One Old Dawg

 

Jerry Varnado, Wayne Brantley, George Patton, Frank Lankewicz, Randy Wheeler

 

Dickie Phillips, Anthony Dennard, Randy Wheeler, Pat Hodgson, Wayne Brantley, Marvin Hurst, Duncan Newkirk

Preston Ridlehuber, George Nowicki, Jerry Varnado, Pat Hodgson

Finally, they entered the stadium, and as many passed through the Jack and Joy Davis gate, they felt especially proud as Jack played center on the 1964 team.

The Georgia-Tennessee game proved to be an exciting one, and most hardly sat down the first half.

At the halftime celebration, the Redcoat Band played a medley of 1964 hits, a video rolled on the Jumbotron featuring several '64 players, and then the 1964 Georgia Bulldogs stepped on to the field as 90,000 people cheered for the first UGA team Vince Dooley coached.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About these players Dooley said, “They wanted to win as much as anybody I've ever coached.” And that’s how they turned three losing seasons into a winning season with a 7-3-1 record.

 

One Old Dawg says, "I recently read Judges 6:15 again. '"Pardon me, my lord," Gideon replied, "but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family."' It reminded me of the 1964 team. We were considered small, unknown, and the weakest in the SEC. But as Gideon, we used what we had, supported each other, and were able to redirect the Georgia football program back to winning ways."

 

Some of these players would go on in just two more years to help Georgia win an SEC championship for only the fifth time in Georgia football history. However, it was this 1964 team that turned the ship around, to make a way for that championship. Georgia football fans everywhere owe a debt of gratitude to these guys.

At the end of the day Saturday, Georgia had beat Tennessee. And a bunch of Old Dawgs had another moment of glory, too.

 

A well deserved moment, indeed.

Several players and coaches from the 1964 team have passed away and were sorely missed.

 

About the Vanderbilt game this weekend, One Old Dawg says, "The Dawgs should have no trouble sinking the Commodore's already leaking ship, but we'd better be ready, they played South Carolina close until the fourth quarter."

 

One Old Dawg's wife offers a sincere apology to regular 1964 players of whom we did not get photos, among them, Joe Burson, Harold Steely, Doug McFalls,Wayne Swinford, Don Porterfield, Frank Richter, Ken Davis, Jack Davis, and Lynn Hughes. She was flying around trying to get pictures and missed some important shots. If you have photos, we'll be happy to run them in a future One Old Dawg photo gallery. If we've left anyone out, please let us know. Also, this post was so time intensive, we could not post links, professional affiliations, and awards as we usually do. We hope to update later.